The Breakthrough Listen initiative — the largest ever scientific research program aimed at finding evidence of alien civilizations — announced that it is currently focusing its efforts on 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua), a highly-elongated metallic or rocky object that came racing into the Solar System from interstellar space.
This artist’s impression shows the first interstellar asteroid 1I/2017 U1 (’Oumuamua). Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.
“‘Oumuamua’s presence within our Solar System affords the Breakthrough Listen an opportunity to reach unprecedented sensitivities to possible artificial transmitters and demonstrate our ability to track nearby, fast-moving objects,” said Breakthrough Listen’s Dr. Andrew Siemion, Director of Berkeley SETI Research Center.
“Whether this object turns out to be artificial or natural, it’s a great target for the Breakthrough Listen.”
On October 19, 2017, the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawai’i picked up a faint object moving across the sky.
Although originally classified as a comet, additional observations revealed no signs of cometary activity after it passed closest to the Sun in September 2017.
The object was reclassified as an interstellar asteroid and named 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua).
According to astronomers, ‘Oumuamua is at least 1,312 feet (400 m) long and 335 feet (102 m) in diameter.
Preliminary orbital calculations suggested that the asteroid had come from the approximate direction of the bright star Vega, in the northern constellation of Lyra.
“Researchers working on long-distance space transportation have previously suggested that a cigar or needle shape is the most likely architecture for an interstellar spacecraft, since this would minimize friction and damage from interstellar gas and dust,” said experts with the Breakthrough Listen initiative.
“While a natural origin is more likely, there is currently no consensus on what that origin might have been, and the Breakthrough Listen is well positioned to explore the possibility that ‘Oumuamua could be an artifact.”
Breakthrough Listen’s observation campaign will begin on December 13, 2017, at 3:00 pm ET.
Using the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, the scientists will observe ‘Oumuamua across four radio bands, from 1 to 12 GHz.
The first phase of observations will last a total of 10 hours, divided into four ‘epochs’ based on the object’s period of rotation.
“‘Oumuamua is now about 2 AU (astronomical units) away, or twice the distance between Earth and the Sun. At this distance, it would take under a minute for the Green Bank instrument to detect an omnidirectional transmitter with the power of a cellphone,” the experts said.
“Even if no signal or other evidence of extraterrestrial technology is heard, Breakthrough Listen’s observations will cover portions of the radio spectrum in which the object has not yet been observed, and could provide important information about the possibility of water/ice, or the chemistry of a gaseous envelope, neither of which have yet been identified.”
